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Murray serving up a storm

Andy Murray needs to find form on serve to make the difference © Getty Images

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‪Andy Murray opened up his US Open quest in ideal fashion, as his legs were given a workout before easing through in straight sets against Somdev Devvarman, and it was described by some observers as his best start to a grand slam.

There is no doubt it was visually impressive, as he overcame a slow start before easing into the contest and ultimately taking it by the scruff of the neck - wowing the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd with his full armoury of shots.

It was an opening round that could have laid a banana skin at his feet, as Devvarman is a tenacious character who possesses the skills to be consistently in the top 50. It was an ideal match for the Indian too, as at world No. 64 he was not expected to do anything spectacular against the world No. 4. He came out with a plan to swing from the hip and early on things went to plan as he teed off and hit the lines.

Murray weathered the storm and after coming through some inconsistent play in the opening tiebreak, he warmed to his task and proved much too good for Devvarman. But if you delve a little deeper into the display there were clear concerns for when he gets deeper into the tournament.

After taking a little time to find his range, Murray struck the ball beautifully on both wings and moved around the court with his typical fluency. Those aspects are what have helped propel Murray into the top four in the world and firmly in the 'big four' bracket. And in the past couple of years he has added a mean first serve to his armoury.

But the big problem for Murray is the second serve. His average second serve speed was 86mph, just two mph faster than the man who stared it down on Wednesday. The Murray first serve is a huge weapon. He fired down eight aces and ramped the pace up to 133mph at one stage. But he converted on just 61 per cent of his first serves. For a man who sends a second serve down at an average velocity of just 86mph that is not good enough.

It may get the job done against a Somdev Devvarman, but against a player with aspirations of being a regular in the top eight, it on many occasions will not. If you compare Murray's stats with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or even potential quarter-final opponent Juan Martin del Potro - they do not make comfortable viewing.

We only have first-round stats to go on, but they will likely ring true throughout the tournament and Murray is down on three of the four on average first-serve pace (he is level with Djokovic on 113 mph), is below all four in terms of first serve percentage and his second serve makes grim viewing. He is 2mph behind Nadal, but 10mph below Federer.

Murray's brilliant movement, fantastic array of groundstrokes and court craft will always enable him to challenge deep into a slam - he has proved this time and again - but he needs to work above all else on a second serve as giving a look to the likes of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Del Potro on something that floats over at 86mph is asking for trouble.

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